History Lessons
Valley history buffs are taking their collections and going home in response to the new historical museum director's grand plans to make the exhibits less Eurocentric.

Pipe DreamSaratoga--The City of Floating Scum Upon the Water will tolerate no budding anarchists. So a young Saratoga lad discovered last week when his parents, suspicious of their 17-year-old offspring's preoccupation with chemistry sets and bomb-making manuals, called the sheriffs on him. Upon finding plastic pipe, homemade powder and do-it-yourself books in the family home, investigators promptly called the boy out of class at Saratoga High School for questioning. Turns out he was already on probation, and before he could say "All I wanted was a Pepsi," he was whisked away to Juvenile Hall, where he now awaits a court hearing.

Rancho DrainoCupertino--Looks like the days of rugged individualism are over for the residents of Rancho Rinconada. The 317-acre parcel, bounded on all sides by Saratoga and Cupertino, has until now preferred to be no one's neighborhood, reporting directly to the county instead. But the November election saw two-thirds of Rinconadans expressing favor for annexation by Cupertino, and a slimmer majority passed a measure to pay the city's 2.4 percent utilities tax. Nothing good is free, especially not storm drainage in a post-you-know-what year. Annexation proceedings should begin in February.

Parking BarrageLos Gatos--Woe to the Los Gatos councilmember who thought the job consisted of luncheons with senior citizens and bi-monthly town meetings. The swank little burg is mired in paperwork and opinions about its parking problem, and a beleaguered town council is trying to maximize parking spaces in two available lots while keeping costs down (the bill could total as much as $15 million) and businesses happy. No one wants to see paid parking horn into the shopping utopia that is downtown Los Gatos, but funding for the new garages will have to come from somewhere.